Happy Changes
by author12306
Summary: If Mana had never died, Allen would have continued living and traveling with them. Read of their adventures here. (This story is rated K simply because I am paranoid).
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man. Katsura Hoshino does.

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Chapter 1

_"Mana! Wake up Mana! Don't go!" Allen cried as his father died. He didn't know what he would do, where he would go, he didn't even want to live without his father. He cried and almost refused to let someone from the local morgue take Mana's body away. He didn't know how much time had passed, he was numb, but he now sat at a grave. The grave with his father's name on it. _

_"Do you want to bring your daddy back, little one?" a voice, so kind it was creepy, asked. A plump figure that hardly seemed to be human stood behind the grave._

_"You can bring Mana back?" Allen asked. He just wanted his father back!_

_"Yes, I just need you to call your daddy's name for me," the figure had an unnaturally large grin that seemed to grow as he spoke. A frame rose from the ground with a metal skeleton suspended in it._

_Allen stepped uncertainly forward before he took as deep a breath as his tiny lungs could manage, "MANA!"_

_A light hit the skeleton and neat writing wrote the name "Mana" across the skeleton's forehead under a star. The skeleton sprung to life, but before the small child could even say anything it spoke in a harsh, accusing tone, "Allen, what did you do to me? You made me an akuma!"_

_Allen backed up a few steps as a blade hand swiped at his face and cut across his left eye. He fell back._

Allen jerked awake. Tears streamed down his face as he curled into a small ball. He quickly looked around and saw Mana sleeping soundly in the other bed in the room. No blood covered the side of Allen's face, he observed as he wiped his tears away. He stood and walked over to Mana's bed, hauling his tiny body onto the high bed. Mana was a deep sleeper, so he probably wouldn't notice that Allen had climbed into the bed. Allen planned on going to sleep, but when he felt a hand ruffling his hair he opened his eyes to see that Mana was awake.

"Sorry I woke you up," he apologized softly and hoped that his tearstained face wasn't obvious in the dark room.

Mana simply smiled, "I wasn't sleeping."

"Mana, do you promise you'll never leave me on my own?" Allen asked. He had the childish thought process that if Mana promised then he would always be there.

"As long as I can stay with you, I won't leave you alone," Mana smiled and ruffled Allen's hair again.

Allen smiled as he curled into a ball and snuggled against the clown's side. He fell asleep that way, and almost completely forgot his horrid dream. He never wanted to lose Mana; he never wanted to lose the first person to care for him. Even if the clown could act a little odd at times he still loved him with all his tiny heart and never wanted to be left alone again in this cold world.

* * *

Allen balanced himself atop a large, inflatable ball. He rolled it about and managed to stay balanced while juggling multiple colorful rubber balls. He smiled at a small child who tugged on a parent's sleeve and pointed at Allen.

"Mommy! Let's watch the clown!" the child tugged harder at their mother's sleeve.

"Sweetie we don't have time. We need to get home before daddy does so we can make him lunch," the woman hurried her child along; as an after thought she tossed a few coins in the upturned hat beside the ball Allen was balanced on.

Allen smiled gratefully, "It's much appreciated."

The woman hadn't noticed the thanks as she dragged the child along.

"I got us lunch, Allen," Mana had walked over. He was still in his clown suit.

"Thanks dad," Allen smiled as he stepped off of the ball; he was careful to keep it from rolling out from under him.

"I'll take over after lunch; you can take a break. Maybe you can walk around town and shop a little," Mana smiled. It had become a welcome habit of theirs to take turns performing for passerby's in various towns they passed through. They only ever performed together when they were tight on money. It usually left both of them too drained to perform all day if they both worked at once.

"Alright. Do we have a place to stay tonight?" Allen asked as he took a bite of his sandwich.

"Yes, we'll be staying at the same inn we stayed in yesterday. We'll be leaving tomorrow," Mana nodded.

"How far is it until the next town?" Allen asked through a mouthful of food.

"Allen, please remember your manners," Mana scolded with a friendly smile.

Allen quickly swallowed his food and sheepishly apologized before he repeated his question.

"About two days. We may have to sleep outside for a day," Mana answered. This was also a usual occurrence for the two clowns. Sometimes they were lucky enough to stumble across a house along the roads. Sometimes they were even luckier if the house had an empty bedroom and the owners would allow them to stay. Usually, even if the owners refused them a place to stay, they were at least kind enough to give them a warm meal for a small show.

"We better buy some extra food before we leave town, I guess. I can do that this afternoon," Allen offered.

"That would be wonderful, Allen. Just don't get too much food. We don't want to be wasteful if we do find a family kind enough to feed us," Mana warned.

"Of course," Allen smiled. He had finished his lunch, which consisted of a sandwich and an apple, and now stood to explore the town. He went to the inn they were staying at and quickly went up the stairs to their small room. It had a small bathroom attached to it and he quickly washed the clown make-up off of his face before he changed out of his clown suit. He changed into a white dress shirt with a dark grey vest and a red tie as well as black slacks. He made sure he had enough money in his pocket for food and whatever else he would buy. They were far from poor at the moment, and at times like these he and Mana generally liked to buy new clothes or things they would need when it got colder outside like coats and boots. Allen changed the soft gloves that matched his clown suit to a pair of white gloves. He never went anywhere without his gloves and long sleeves. He remembered far too well a time when he could hardly cover his deformed arm and was accused of being born to a demon; many people had tried to kill him at that time. He tried not to let his mind stray to that time for too long and he quickly distracted himself by shuffling the deck of cards that was in his pocket. He couldn't do much aside from shuffling, small tricks, and illusions with the cards but he kept them for whenever they had a large audience of smaller children. Mana had banned him from participating in any type of gambling, which rid him of a habit to play poker he nearly developed when he had traveled with a circus at a young age. He didn't play poker much, but he had always watched other circus members play it. As he found himself distracted he put the cards away and walked back down the stairs of the inn. He left the inn and walked along the sidewalk. He watched carriages and carts pass by on the stone streets at random intervals. As he was walking he glanced at various shops and the items they displayed behind large glass windows. He stopped at one of the few bakeries in the town and walked in. It smelled like fresh baked bread and pastries in the small building. A glass display case showed off the various types of bread that were available that day. He bought a loaf of plain white bread and thanked the young woman at the counter.

Allen exited the store. As he was walking he passed a small stand selling fruit. He bought some apples. They would be for any meals they happened to eat on the road, and two would be for little snacks. He stopped at a small grocery store and bought a small block of cheese. As he was leaving he glanced at the town's clock tower. His eyes widened; he had already been out for almost an hour! It was almost one o'clock. He still had a few hours until Mana would expect him back at the inn to eat dinner but it was still shocking how quickly the time was passing. He had bought enough food for the trip to the next town. He wandered around the town looking at the various shops that were around. He had wandered around the entire small town twice before he saw a cat sitting at the entrance of an alleyway. The cat caught his attention because of how thin and miserable it looked. He walked over and crouched in front of the cat. He slowly held out a hand to see how the cat would respond; he smiled and scratched its head. It purred and rubbed the side of its face against his hand.

"Do you want some food?" Allen offered as he carefully tore off a piece of bread from the loaf he had.

The cat took the bread gratefully.

"Maybe you can come with Mana and I," Allen smiled. He initially planned to go ask Mana if it was okay to bring the cat and then come back and see if the cat was still there but as he started walking the cat followed close behind him.

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A/N: Thank you SO SO SOOOO much for taking time out of your life and day to read this. I don't plan on this being a very long story, but with enough ideas and help from y'all I can make it a fairly long story. I don't plan on writing very long chapters, most will probably be just under 2,000 words. I would really appreciate reviews, follows, and favorites from you all, but if you don't want to put the time forth I completely understand :) Again, thank you all so much!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't, never have, and never will own D. Gray-man.

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Chapter 2

Allen stopped on his way to ask Mana if he could keep the cat to buy some food for the cat. The cat seemed delighted as Allen carried the package of domestic cat food between his arm and side. As he neared the corner where Mana was performing he saw a large crowd gathered. Mana had always been able to draw large crowds. Allen had always wondered why more people left him money and stopped to watch him; sometimes he got so jealous of the attention his father got that it nearly made him angry at the older clown. Mana was currently juggling. He was juggling at least ten colorful rubber balls. Allen stopped at the edge of the crowd and stood on his tip-toes to see over the people in front of him.

The cat rubbed her face against Allen's ankle; she was trying to regain the red head's attention.

Allen glanced down at the cat. In this crowd he was afraid she could get stepped on so he cautiously picked her up.

The cat didn't struggle beyond squirming slightly.

Seeing that Mana was getting a big crowd Allen decided to go back and wait at the inn with the cat. Once he got to the inn he went up to his and Mana's room with the cat in tow. When he got to their room he closed the door and set her down. The cat jumped up onto the bed next to him and sat down. She pawed impatiently at the package he held.

"I guess I should feed you, shouldn't I?" Allen chuckled as he opened the package and poured a small amount on the wooden bedside table.

The cat jumped onto the table and eagerly finished the food.

"We've still got a few hours until Mana comes back. Maybe I should think of a name for you," Allen pondered. The cat didn't pay any attention to him as she ate. Allen silently pondered what to call the cat until she finished her food and decided she wanted more food. She walked over to the open bag and began scarfing down as much of the dry food as she could before Allen noticed and took the bag away so the cat wouldn't make herself sick.

The cat seemed deeply annoyed to have her food taken from her. She meowed loudly and batted at Allen's arm with her paw. She meowed again loudly.

"I'm sorry but you might make yourself sick if you eat anymore," Allen apologized to the cat as he walked over to his suitcase and put the bag of cat food in it.

The cat jumped down from the bed and walked over to the suitcase. She pawed at the suitcase.

Allen laughed as he pulled a book out of his suitcase. He loved to read whenever he got the chance. And that's is how he spent the rest of the afternoon. Mana walked into the room and greeted him cheerfully.

"Hey dad, I've got a question," Allen stated.

"And what would that be, Allen?" Mana asked. He had yet to notice the cat.

"While I was out I found a stray cat. She looked like she was half-starved, so I picked her up and bought some cat food for her. Can we take her with us? Please?" Allen used his best puppy-dog face.

"Allen, having a pet under normal circumstances is a big responsibility, but we're traveling so much, we run low on money so much, that it might not be the best idea for her," Mana began.

Allen pouted. He could still act childish sometimes, "I promise I'll take good care of her! Could we at least take her with us and find a farm to leave her on?"

Mana sighed in defeat, "We can take her with us until we've found someone to take her. But you're not going to get attached to her, or we're leaving her here. Can you not get too attached to her? I don't want you to be too upset with me when I say we've found somewhere to leave her."

"I promise," Allen smiled. The cat had finally managed to paw the latches on Allen's suitcase open and had gotten to the bag of food.

"I take it that is the cat?" Mana asked as he looked at her pawing at the resealed bag.

Allen answered with a small nod, "I'm not really sure if I should give her a name if we're going to be leaving her somewhere soon."

"We can call her Cat until we find a place to leave her," Mana smiled.

Allen smiled; he was really glad they didn't have to leave the poor thing to starve.

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A/N: I know this was a short chapter but I didn't want it to feel draggy. Thanks a big bunch for reading, I love reviews :) Also, I know Allen is pretty OOC but if you think about it being raised by Mana for most of his childhood would probably change his personality greatly. And with the cat, I do not and have never had a pet cat so if Cat's behavior is off I apologize, feel free to correct me NICELY, if you're rude about it you will be ignored.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man.

A/N: And, sorry to all you Road haters, she's entering the story.

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Chapter 3

Allen awoke the next morning to his head landing on something that first crunched, then squished, and finally bled onto his pillow and into his hair. He looked at whatever it was, only to see it was a dead mouse. He wrinkled his nose as he raked his fingers through his hair. It was damp with mouse blood.

Cat looked rather proud of herself. She had decided to leave a "gift" for the human who had saved her.

Allen picked the dead mouse up by its tail and carried it, at arms distance away from him, to the window. He opened the window and tossed the mouse out. He closed the window and walked to the bathroom. He knocked on the door. The hostel, like every other inn and hostel, had multiple rooms sharing one bathroom. They had been lucky enough to get a room that was attached to one of the bathrooms. He walked to the sink and began to scrub the mouse blood out of his hair. It smelled _awful_, but he did his best to wash all of it out of his hair. When he was satisfied that it didn't smell _as _bad he went back to his and Mana's room. He glanced at the clock that rested on the wall of their room. It was almost five in the morning.

"Dad, it's almost time to leave," Allen yawned as he lightly shook Mana's shoulder.

"I'll get up in a few minutes," Mana yawned.

Neither of them was ever really sure who was going to wake up first, but it had become an unspoken rule between them that whoever woke up first had to wake the other up. Allen quickly packed the clothes he had taken out of the suitcase to wear the day before and grabbed a change of clothes. He changed and closed his suitcase.

Cat hopped up onto his now empty bed and walked to the mouse blood on his pillow. She sniffed the small rust colored spot before licking at the drying blood.

Allen shuddered as he picked Cat up and moved her away from the pillow, "Cats are so weird."

Mana had gotten up and gotten dressed while Allen was keeping Cat away from the mouse blood; they were ready to go. Seeing as they had paid in advance for the rooms they simply had to leave. It was still dark outside when they left.

* * *

It had been five months since Allen had found Cat, and they were still stuck with the kitten. They had traveled with multiple circuses, and ended up somewhere in Portugal.

Cat pawed at Allen's face as she sat on his pillow. There had been many more incidents with mice since the first, and Allen had grown used to the smell of mouse blood.

Allen opened one eye to glare at the cat. He had been up far too late the night before cleaning dishes for the circus cook. He had gotten into quite a bit of trouble the day before when he lost track of Cat and she had caused a great deal of trouble during a show. He would have to clean most of the animals' cages among other things. He was silently seething still; Mana had been laughing at him after it was all done! And the clown's answer as to why he was laughing was because Allen's expression looked so funny when he was mad!

_That clown is crazy, _Allen thought as he pushed Cat off of his pillow.

The flap to his and Mana's tent was pulled open and let in a gust of chilled wind. Mana walked in, "Are you still asleep, Allen?"

"No," Allen answered. He made sure to put an extra hint of grumpiness in his voice.

"I'm sorry I laughed at you yesterday," Mana spoke quietly. He hated it whenever Allen ignored him.

Allen sighed, "I deserved it. We should have left Cat at that first farm, and I should have listened to you when you said that."

"Yes, they're staying in this tent. I apologize for the accident yesterday. I am just glad that no one was killed," they could hear the ring leader outside speaking to someone. There was a pause before he called, "Allen, get out here!"

Allen flinched and walked outside. It was really, really cold and he didn't have his coat. In fact, he was simply wearing an older pair of pants that he always slept in on colder nights. A moment too late he realized his arm, his deformed arm, was showing. He was already outside and the chances of him having a chance to get back inside the tent and put on a shirt before doing whatever it was the ring leader called him out to do were slim.

There was a girl standing next to the ring leader. Based on her clothes Allen guessed she was from a fairly wealthy family. She looked to be a year or two younger than Allen. Her hair was a very unusual shade of purple and styled so that it stayed pressed flat against her head by a flowery headband.

"This is the one responsible for the accident yesterday," the ring leader announced before he left.

The girl chuckled, "You looked ridiculous yesterday running after that cat."

"Who are you?" Allen spoke a bit more harshly than he had meant to.

"Oh, sorry, I'm Road Kamelot," she smiled and held her hand out for him to shake. She didn't seem the slightest bit put off by his rude tone.

"I'm Allen Walker," Allen responded and shook her hand.

"I came to invite you to have dinner at my father's estate," Road announced with a smile, "I'd like to learn more about you."

At Allen's questioning look she smiled and added, "I was on the row of seats that collapsed yesterday, and you ran right past me. I think you're cute, and I want to get to know you better."

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A/N: Alright, guys, so I know a lot of the fandom has mixed feelings about AllenxRoad, so I'm gonna leave this up for you guys to decide. Should this story have some AllenxRoad moments in it, or just a very short moment of them talking? If I don't get answers it will be AllenxRoad. Thanks a bunch for reading, please review~


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man

A/N: Alright, RoadxAllen won the vote, sorry to y'all who don't ship it.

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Chapter 4

Allen questioned, momentarily, how he had gotten stuck in his current situation. He had wanted nothing more than to leave their current circus after what had happened with Cat, but he now thought that being there would have been far better. He had never attended a fancy meal before; he was used to eating at inn's a small cafes. Now he sat awkwardly beside Road, the weird rich girl who just happened to show quite a bit of interest in him after the entire Cat-induced circus incident.

"Do you always live with the circus?" Road asked cheerfully.

"No," Allen answered simply. Mana would probably scold him for being rude, but he didn't ever really enjoy talking to strangers. Especially not strangers whom he had met through an embarrassing turn of events. He especially didn't like people who had seen his arm. He never trusted them, how could he? He pushed the thought away as she asked him yet another question.

"Where are you from?"

"London," Allen answered. It unnerved him how she hadn't commented about his arm.

"Wow, you've traveled a lot," she blinked in amazement, "Do you normally stay around there?"

"No, normally dad and I go all over the place and live by performing for money and lodging," Allen sighed, "We'll occasionally stop by a circus for awhile and travel with them for a few weeks but that hardly ever happens. And it probably won't for awhile because of Cat."

"That's so cool!" Road squealed, "Oh, is that what you named that kitten?"

"Yes, that stupid kitten. I guess Mana was right about picking it up and bringing it with us," Allen chuckled, "We're still trying to find someone to take her but it's been impossible. Especially now that we're out of the country side where they need good mousers."

"I'm sure we could keep her here. We've had a mouse problem recently," Road smiled, "I'm sure my daddy wouldn't mind keeping a cat either."

Allen's expression lit up at this news. As much as he loved Cat it was getting impossible to keep her out of trouble, "Really?"

"Yeah," Road grinned, "But first you have to go on a date with me."

Allen's expression went blank, "Doesn't this count as a date?"

"No, I want to take you out shopping. And then we can go to a restaurant," Road smiled.

_I can't do this. Mana will want to live around here permanently if he thinks I've found a girlfriend. But then we'll be rid of Cat, _Allen thought, "I-I guess?"

"Yay!" Road hugged him.

It was unexpected, to say the least, and knocked Allen out of his chair.

"Sorry," Road laughed as she helped him up.

"Road, the Earl wants you in the Ark dining room immediately," a handsome man in a nice suit and a top hat with curly black hair and a mole under his eye said from the doorway, "Oh, who's the boy?"

"Aw, I was finally getting him to talk to me," Road frowned, "Tyki, this is Allen. Allen, this is my uncle Tyki Mikk."

"Nice to meet you, shounen," Tyki Mikk shook Allen's hand, "Road, I'll have a servant escort him back home. The Earl wanted to see you as soon as possible."

"Fine. Allen, come back tomorrow at noon. We'll go on our date then," Road smiled before she skipped happily from the room.

"That girl's a handful. She never tells any of us before going off and making her own plans," Tyki sighed and glared after his niece.

"It was nice to meet you, Tyki Mikk. I assume I'm being kicked out now?" Allen smiled jokingly as he turned to walk towards the door he had been led through.

"Boy, you dropped this," Tyki handed Allen the deck of cards that had somehow fallen from Allen's pocket when he stood.

"Oh, thank you," Allen took the deck back and put it in his pocket, "I would have hated to lose that."

"Do you gamble?" Tyki asked.

"No, my dad doesn't want me to," Allen shook his head, "I promised him I would never gamble a long time ago."

Tyki smirked, "That's too bad. I guess I'll probably be seeing you around, if Road has her way."

"See you," Allen waved and left. When he got back to the circus he prepared to tell Mana he was going on his first date; he expected no less than getting absolutely smothered with questions about his "girlfriend" by his father.

"Allen, you're back. How did it go?" Mana asked with a smile.

"It went well. She asked me out to lunch tomorrow," Allen answered. He tried to seem indifferent and hoped the clown would follow his mood but it didn't work and he was caught in a hug.

"That's amazing!" Mana grinned, "Your first date! Are you excited? What's she like? Her name was Road, right?"

"I'm not really that excited, though I am surprised. She's nice, but she can act really spoiled sometimes. Yeah, her name's Road," Allen answered.

"Where will you be going? When?" Mana asked. He had a habit of asking many, many questions in quick secession when he was excited.

"I'm not entirely sure, she just told me to go back to her house tomorrow at noon," Allen answered. He was far from enthusiastic and wanted nothing to do with this, but he also needed to get rid of Cat and didn't want to upset Road.

"That's just amazing, Allen!" Mana grinned at his son. He was glad that Allen was finally interacting with people around his own age.

"I guess you could call it that," Allen frowned.

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A/N: Hey y'all, so sorry for the long wait and short, lame chapter. I've been a little sidetracked recently and haven't been in the mood to work on happy stories(which is unfortunate for a few of my OCs in another story). Alright, another thing is that it states Mana had gone insane after the loss of his brother so I don't think he'd remember the Noah, and I don't think Road would recognize Mana since he's aged a considerable amount since he knew Road when he and Neah were younger. I'll probably not keep this story going much longer because my mind is dead set on sabotaging my one happy story so just be warned about that. If I can get some idea from y'all about cute little happy moments you'd like to see I'd be grateful. Thanks a bunch for reading, sorry for the long note, please review~


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man.

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Chapter 5

"Sit still, Allen. You should be worrying more about your appearance right now," Mana scolded as he pulled Allen's hair back into a ponytail. Normally Allen was content to let his hair, just short of the base of his neck, stay free, but Mana insisted he try to make his hair look a little more presentable.

"I don't like people touching my hair," Allen grumbled under his breath.

"Allen, this is a special occasion. Besides, it's supposed to be windy today and this will keep your hair out of your eyes," Mana said.

Allen pouted rather childishly, "It doesn't mean I have to enjoy wearing my hair like this."

"Stop frowning like that," Mana scolded and gently pinched Allen's cheek in a teasing way; he was trying to get him to smile.

Allen laughed at this and swatted his father's hand away, "Okay, stop."

"I got you to stop frowning," Mana smiled triumphantly.

"Yeah," Allen smiled back, "But I'm not a little kid anymore, that won't always make me laugh, y'know."

"It hasn't failed yet," Mana ruffled Allen's hair.

Allen tried to smooth his hair down, growing rather indignant, "Dad, you just made me spend forever fixing my hair and you messed it up!"

"Sorry," this didn't even seem to bother Mana at all.

Allen took his hair out of the ponytail, smoothed it back against his head, and tied it back again so that it wasn't messed up, "I have to go now, dad."

"Have fun, be polite, don't get into trouble," Mana smiled after his son.

It didn't take Allen long to reach the Kamelot home. It was a very large building, Allen even considered it a mansion. He made his way to the front door. The doors were at least double his height and someone five times his width could easily fit through. The knocker on the door was extremely heavy and created a resonating sound when Allen dropped it against the door. It wasn't long before Allen was led inside by a servant. Halfway down one hallway a sudden weight hit Allen and nearly dragged him to the ground.

It was Road and she was hugging him around the neck.

"Hi, Road," Allen smiled as he tried to pry her arms away from his neck.

Road pouted as she loosened her vice-like hug on Allen, "You're no fun. You're huggable."

Allen sincerely didn't know how to respond to this, so he simply humored her and hugged her, letting her continue to hug him around the shoulders in a nearly painful hug.

"Daddy already knows we're leaving, let's go," Road practically dragged Allen back through the house and out of the front door.

Allen wondered if this was what his entire afternoon was going to be like and silently hoped it wasn't. He was surprised when Road dragged him to a horse-drawn coach, it wasn't that far of a walk in his opinion.

"Couldn't we just walk?" Allen asked.

"No, silly, that's too far a walk," Road smiled, "We'd be too tired to go shopping if we walked all the way there."

Allen didn't try to argue, as he had long since realized that Road probably wasn't completely sane. He would never say this aloud, of course, but thinking it couldn't possibly hurt.

"We're going to lunch first, there's a really nice restaurant that daddy and I go to a lot so we get a lot of discounts. Then we're going to go shopping," Road spoke in a happy, sing-song voice.

"Alright, that sounds nice," Allen smiled.

They fell into an awkwardly-comfortable silence. It didn't take long for them to get to the restaurant that Road had been talking about.

"What types of food do you like?" Road asked once her and Allen had been seated and given menus.

"Anything, really. I'm not picky," Allen shrugged.

Road hummed quietly to show she had heard his statement, as she was busy reading over he menu, "This place has so many good things."

Allen decided on what he was going to order. Soon their orders had been taken and they were left to wait for their food.

"You're really hard to hold a conversation with," Road stated.

"I'm not used to talking to people my own age," Allen answered.

"You could at least try to continue the conversations beyond one or two responses," Road said, "People will think you're trying to ignore them."

Allen sighed, "Alright, what do you want to talk about?"

"So, what types of places have you been before?" Road asked.

"A lot of places. I've never gone to America though," Allen responded.

"Really? I've been to America. I don't remember it too well because it was a long time ago, but I do remember it was fairly interesting," Road smiled.

"That's nice," Allen said.

Soon they had gotten their food, eaten, paid, and were leaving the restaurant to go shopping.

Allen followed behind Road as she dragged him between multiple different shops. Soon they stopped at a shop that didn't just have dresses and girls' clothes.

"Allen, find an outfit you like, I'll buy it for you," Road smiled.

"I couldn't possibly let you buy me anything, you paid for lunch and everything," Allen tried to deny.

"Those clothes you're wearing are way too big for you, I bet you borrowed them from someone. That means you don't have a nice outfit," Road pointed out, "Really, it's absolutely no problem. Just find some clothes you like."

"Fine," Allen finally agreed. He took some time to look at things, try things on, and after about twenty minutes he and Road were leaving that shop so Road could buy herself more dresses.

* * *

A/N: I am SO SO sorry for the wait. I know the chapter is lame and all, but I had writer's block on this chapter. Also, be on the look out for two DGM fics by me :3 One is a oneshot that's already out called Impossible Decision, and the other, which is going to be multi-chapter, and isn't posted yet, is going to be called Sight. Please review~


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray-man.

* * *

Chapter 6

The sun was going down before Road had finally finished her shopping spree. Allen offered to carry most of the bags and boxes, and he ended up having to put his balancing skills to good use.

"Road, where do you keep all of the clothes you buy?" Allen asked questioningly.

"In my closet, silly, where else?" Road giggled.

Allen sighed, "How is there enough room in your closet for all of these?"

"I have a walk in closet," Road pointed out.

"Oh, that makes sense," Allen nodded, "Wait, a walk in closet?!"

"Yep, daddy wanted to make sure I had room for all of my clothes," Road smiled.

"I've never really had more clothes than I could carry with me in a small suitcase, so please forgive my disbelief of this," Allen smiled politely, "Don't you think we should get you back home, soon?"

"Probably, daddy might get worried if I'm out too late. Especially if I'm with a boy," Road laughed, "We're going to have to walk back, though, because I forgot to tell the carriage driver we were going to need a ride back."

"That's fine," Allen shrugged, just as his stomach decided to make itself known.

"Do you want to stop and get something to eat first? There's a nice little cafe over there," Road offered.

"Road, I couldn't possibly ask for you to do anything else. I'll eat when I get back to the circus," Allen hadn't noticed that Road was already leading him towards the cafe. He decided, at this point, it would be easiest to just follow her. So that's what he did.

At some point during the meal Road had dozed off. She didn't get any food, claiming that she was going to sneak some sweets from the kitchen at her home. Her chin rested against her chest and she was slouched in her chair as she snored quietly.

"Jeez," Allen sighed as he paid with his own money. He then proceeded to gather up the countless shopping bags set around Road's chair. That was a balancing act in and of itself, but then he managed to pick Road up and began to walk to her house. It didn't take more than ten minutes for Allen to get there, and he carefully lay Road down so he could knock on the door.

It didn't take long for one of the house servants to answer.

"Oh goodness, is she alright?" the woman asked as she saw Road.

"She's fine, she fell asleep at dinner, so I brought her back home," Allen assured, "Make sure to thank her for me when she wakes up, tell her that today was a great date."

"I will, thank you so much for bringing her back home. I assume all of these are her new clothes?" the servant carefully picked Road up.

"All of them except this," Allen took the box with his new clothes in it, "Tell her I said thanks for the clothes, as well."

The servant smiled as Allen left.

_Here we go, time to be bombarded with questions, _Allen thought just before he entered he and Mana's shared tent. He entered their tent, hoping to dodge questions, only to be greeted by Cat meowing loudly and pawing at his leg, which drew Mana's attention away from the book he was reading.

"How was your date, Allen? Tell me about it," Mana smiled brightly at his son.

"It was nice," Allen smiled, "If a bit unconventional, usually the gentleman pays for meals and such, but Road wouldn't let me."

"So, what all did you two do?" Mana asked.

"We went to a rather nice restaurant, then Road went shopping. She insisted on buying a suit for me, since she could tell I was borrowing yours. Then we kept shopping for her, and then we ate dinner. I had to carry her home, though, because she fell asleep at dinner," Allen explained.

"That sounds like a wonderful time! I'm so glad you went, Allen," Mana hugged his son proudly.

Allen smiled, almost feeling that childish sense of accomplishment he felt so long ago when he would make Mana so happy, "Too bad the circus is leaving tomorrow, I guess."

"Oh, didn't I tell you? After what happened with Cat they decided to fire us tomorrow. We'll be back on the road for awhile," Mana, as usual, seemed rather unfazed by the news. This happened often for them, someone would see Allen's arm, or something stupid like that, and they would simply be dropped.

"Hm, well, that's good," Allen smiled. Sometimes he preferred when they traveled alone; less people noticed his arm when they did, "Dad, I'm gonna go to bed. It's been a long day for me."

"Goodnight, Allen," Mana smiled before he returned to reading.

Allen changed out of Mana's oversized suit into his own clothes and went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, like every other time they were kicked out of a circus, they simply stayed in town as the circus train left.

"Oh, dad, Road agreed to take Cat for us. I better go take Cat to their house before we get going," Allen said.

"How about I go with you?" Mana offered.

"Sure," Allen nodded. He picked Cat up and began walking in the direction of Road's home. He reached the house with Mana and Cat in tow. He knocked on the door.

This time, instead of a servant answering the door, Road opened it, "Allen!~"

"Hi Road," Allen greeted less enthusiastically as she hugged him, "I brought Cat, remember you said you could take her?"

"Yeah, why don't you guys come in?" Road offered with a smile, "And who is this?"

"Road, this is my father Mana, Mana, this is Road," Allen introduced them, "And this is Cat."

"It's nice to meet you," Road greeted Mana, "Aw, Cat's so cute!"

"Yeah, she is, but she sure knows how to cause trouble," Allen laughed.

"I'm sure she'll be good for catching mice around here," Road smiled.

"Hello, boy. I hear you went on a date with my niece yesterday," Tyki greeted as they ran into him in the hallway, "You better treat her well, from now on."

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading, please review~


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man.

* * *

Chapter 7

"I-It's not like Road and I are _actually _a couple," Allen quickly dismissed, his face growing bright red, "It was just a good opportunity to leave the circus yesterday, right Road?"

"I think I'd consider us a couple," Road smiled and hugged Allen's arm so that her chin rested on his shoulder and she could bat her eyelashes at him in an almost threatening "why are you disagreeing?" way.

"Leave the boy alone, Road," Tyki said, "You know how Sheryl will react if he sees you clinging to the poor boy like that."

"But Allen's fun to hug," as if to prove her point Road squeezed his arm until Allen's hand had gone to pins and needles, "Besides, daddy's not here. He had to go out for a business meeting."

"Just try not to smother him," Tyki waved over his shoulder as he walked off.

"Mana, that was Road's uncle Tyki Mikk," Allen introduced, "I met him the other day when I was here."

"Hurry up! If you two hurry I'm sure you could join my mother and I for breakfast," Road was practically dragging Allen along, and Mana was blissfully unaware of his son's suffering.

"We couldn't possibly trouble you," Allen denied, trying to squirm from her vice grip on his arm.

"Allen, it's rude to turn down such a kind invitation. We should at least thank Road's mother for letting Road take Cat, and for letting Road go out with you yesterday," Mana scolded, "Road, we would love to join you. Though I am afraid we should be going soon."

"Why?" Road's voice took on a whining tone as she asked this question.

"We should really be moving on to the next town, now that we aren't part of the circus anymore. We won't be able to make much money here since the circus just came through, and we'll need to keep making money regularly for awhile, at this rate," Mana explained. Their little incident with the circus has left them a little low on money.

"You guys can stay with us for a few days! We have plenty of open guest rooms," Road squealed happily, "My mom loves company!"

"I'm very sorry, miss Road. I don't think we can accept that kind offer, we would be asking far too much," Mana apologized with an apologetic smile to match.

"Really, it wouldn't be a problem!" Road insisted, "It can get really lonely here when daddy's gone for work. Uncle Tyki likes to go out to the bars and taverns in town to gamble and mom gets sick a lot so I'm usually left on my own. Having someone close to my age like Allen around would be really nice!"

"Alright, I'll consider your offer," Mana decided. He seemed serious about considering it and Allen was far from happy with this outcome.

They reached the dining hall and Road pulled open one of the large, heavy doors, "Mom, this is Allen and his father Mana!"

"It's very nice to meet you two. I'm Tricia, Road's mother," she greeted with a smile, "Thank you so much for going out with Road yesterday, Allen."

"It's lovely to meet you too," both Allen and Mana responded.

"It was no problem, Mrs. Kamelot," Allen added with a smile.

"I hope she wasn't too much trouble," Tricia laughed lightly, "I hear she fell asleep after shopping. Thank you for getting her home safe."

"Of course, I could never leave a young lady on her own," Allen assured, "And she was no problem at all."

Road cleared her throat, trying to draw her mother's attention, "Mommy, Allen and Mana have nowhere to stay, could they stay here for a few days? Or weeks?"

"Really?" Tricia turned her gaze to Allen and Mana, "We would love to have you. Road gets so lonely when her father isn't around, and I'm afraid I'm n poor health must of the time so I can't offer her much company. Feel free to stay as long as you two would like. I'll have one of the servants go prepare some rooms for you two."

"We couldn't possibly bother you for two rooms!" Allen insisted. The truth was he had never, since meeting Mana, slept in a different room. Sure, he complained about the clown's snoring and stuff, but he was afraid of being in another room.

"Don't be silly, we have plenty of space. Besides, what kind of hostess would I be if I had one of my guests sleeping on the floor?" Tricia brushed away the idea with a slightly more stern demeanor, "Now, would you two like breakfast?"

"Yes, that would be very nice. Thank you for your kindness," Mana smiled thankfully.

"It's no problem at all," Tricia assured as she sent one of the servants of the house to go see if that days breakfast had been prepared yet.

Allen and Mana took two of the seats at the table. Road took the seat between Allen and Tricia and scooted the chair over until she could lean on Allen's shoulder without having to worry about falling out of her chair. She happily swung her feet, which couldn't reach the ground from her seat on the chair, and hummed.

Within a few minutes platters of food had been brought out and left on the table; plates were set in front of each of the people seated at the table.

The meal was eaten in a very short amount of time, and soon the food had been cleared. This left the four to talk peacefully.

* * *

Allen looked around his new room. From the conversations throughout the day about him and Mana staying at the Kamelot estate he knew that they would be staying for awhile. Cat playfully pawed at a loose thread that hung from the edge of his shirt. The cat hadn't wanted to stay anywhere else in the large house and she had been following him around all day. He set his suitcase down beside one of the chairs. This was the first time had had managed to escape Road long enough to come to his new room.

Mana had gone to his own room, not long before, and Allen was uneasy about having his own room. It was too quiet for him, without the loud, rumbling snoring of his father.

Allen took longer than necessary to change out of his daytime clothes and into the old clothes he slept in. He took longer than he needed to to put his clothes in his new closet. He took longer than he should have washing his face in the nice bathroom three doors from his room. When he finally got back to his own room and lay down he knew he wouldn't be able to fall asleep for a long time. The bed was uncomfortable, in his opinion. It was too soft, he was used to sleeping at cheap inns where the mattresses were brick hard, and he was equally used to sleeping on the floor. In his opinion the blanket was too thick and cold.

As the lamps lining the hallways were put out by the servants Allen rolled over again. It was too quiet for him. He felt a slight weight on the foot of his bed as Cat jumped up and walked to lay beside him on his pillow.

The close proximity of the cat helped Allen fall asleep, and soon he was fast asleep.

_"Isn't this what it's supposed to feel like, when two humans embrace?" someone was hugging him. His left arm was immobile, and as the person hugging him pulled back into view Allen saw that she looked like Road. The girl had similar eyes and hair, but the color of her eyes and skin was wrong. She had a row of stigmata markings across her forehead and a psychotic grin on her childish face. The world around him was hazy and uncertain, and as this conversation went on he got a continually more uneasy feeling. There were other people in the room, but he couldn't recognize either of them, nor could he name them._

_With a disturbing cackle the girl who looked like Road seized his left arm, which was a large silver claw, and drew it across her over face. It ripped the skin away and left her with only the muscle on her face visible. As her face regrew she continued talking, but Allen didn't know what she was saying. Everything else was a blur, until a searing pain shot through his left eyes along with the color red._

Allen bolted awake. He hadn't had dreams like that since he was much smaller. Dreams about a fantastical world with monsters and he was one of the people who could fight them. That dream had been one of the most disturbing along those lines. He sat up and kicked his blankets off looking around his room. It was pitch black and he could hardly see an inch in front of his face. Despite this fact he stood up and found his way to the door. He had brought his pillow and one of the thinner blankets from his closet with him as he walked to the room beside his. It was Mana's room. He quietly opened the door and walked to the foot of the bed. He laid his pillow on the floor and lay down with the blanket. In this environment it didn't take him long to drift into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading, and sorry for the crappy chapter, the long wait, and the overall terribleness of this story. I'm thinking of doing a little backwards timeskip here to when Allen was pretty little. I just have trouble writing this. Tell me what you think of the idea. (Also, I didn't proofread this so sorry for any errors, I just feel kinda crappy about myself today and I'm not in the mood to put off posting this any longer)


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man

* * *

Chapter 8

Flashback Chapter 1

Snow fell lazily from the sky. There was no wind to rush or alter the course of the flakes; they all drifted lazily to the ground in gently swirling circles.

"Mana, slow down!" Allen whined as he struggled to keep up with the clown. Snow had settled on the hood and shoulders of his small, patchwork jacket. His mitted left hand lazily swung at his side as he ran on small legs to catch up.

"Sorry Allen," Mana smiled apologetically at his adopted son. He stopped and waited fro Allen to catch up.

Once Allen had caught up to Mana he reached up and caught the clown's hand. He hated it when Mana nearly left him behind and sometimes he just had to make sure Mana remembered that he couldn't walk very fast.

"Mana, when can we stop walking?" Allen asked. His legs were tired and he was cold despite the jacket wrapped around him.

"We've almost reached the next town. Do you want me to carry you?" Mana offered. He knew that Allen was still recovering from the mistreatment of the circus they had recently left, and while it hadn't taken him long to prove to the child that he wouldn't hurt him he knew he had to be very careful to monitor Allen's health.

Allen nodded his head, making a small "mm-hm" sound as an answer.

Mana scooped Allen up and carried the small boy on his hip as if he were a small toddler.

Allen didn't seem to mind, as he had soon happily fallen asleep.

The next town was a small one with one small inn and a few shops surrounding a city square with a beautifully frozen fountain. There weren't many houses either and most of the people were inside their homes. Smoke rose from many of the chimneys, and much of it smelled of pine. People were using branches from their Christmas trees as firewood since the holiday was over.

Mana walked to the single inn. It's sign was obscured by snow, and only the word Inn had been cleared enough to be read on the wooden sign. The common room of the inn was no where near full, but four or five people sat around tables with drinks and food at hand. A large fire roared in the fireplace and the innkeeper, an older woman with graying hair and a very slender build, greeted them from behind a counter.

"Do you have any open rooms?" Mana asked.

"Yes we do," the woman nodded, "How long will you be staying here?"

"Probably a few days," Mana answered.

"Alright, now you just take a minute to sit by the fire, warm yourselves up, while I go make sure the room has been cleaned," the innkeeper smiled as she walked off to the flight of stairs at the back of the building.

"Thank you," Mana smiled.

There were multiple chairs set up near the fireplace. Mana sat down in one, still holding Allen.

The young boy had woken up from his nap when Mana sat down, "Sorry, I fell asleep."

"It's fine, Allen," Mana assured.

Allen fell asleep again, and once the innkeeper had come back down and confirmed that the room was clean she gave Mana the key, he paid for the first night, and then he carried Allen up the stairs to the room.

Allen didn't wake up as Mana carefully took off his snow covered jacket and laid him down on one of the two beds in the room. Mana carefully pulled the blankets up to Allen's shoulders.

"Good night, Allen," Mana spoke quietly so he wouldn't wake the sleeping child.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading, and sorry it's so short. These are gonna be shorter than the normal chapters but hopefully there will be more of them faster :D Please review~


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't won D. Gray-man

* * *

Chapter 9

Flashback Chapter 2

A blue, striped, rubber ball bounced across the ground and rolled until it hit Mana's shoe.

"I can't juggle," Allen declared in frustration as Mana stooped to pick up one of the manny scattered, colorful balls.

"It takes practice, Allen," Mana assured, "This might help with the mobility of your left arm. Give it another try?"

"Fine," Allen pouted. He could hardly lift his left arm, it had always been that way. He struggled to lift the mitted hand.

Mana glanced at the oven-mitt like glove Allen always wore, "It might help if you take off your glove."

"No! Someone might see my arm!" Allen protested.

"You don't have to, Allen," Mana assured, "I was just pointing out that it might make learning to juggle a bit easier."

Allen's frown deepened as he protectively held the gloved hand to his chest. This was a habit Mana had yet to be able to rid the boy of. Being treated so poorly because of his arm had caused the child to become quickly aggressive when his deformed arm was a topic of conversation.

"Alright, don't worry about the glove," Mana assured softly, "But how about you try again?"

"I don't wanna," Allen said quietly.

"Then you don't have to," Mana smiled, "Would you like to go get some lunch and then come try again later?"

Allen nodded, the pout disappearing from his face almost immediately.

"What would you like for lunch?" Mana asked.

Allen suddenly seemed lost by the question. He wasn't used to having options of food, especially not high quality food from restaurants.

"Do you want to eat at the inn?" Mana offered.

"Yeah," Allen nodded eagerly. He followed behind Mana as fast as his small legs could take him. The inn served food all day, and the meals were usually the same all day. That day the meal had been roast meat with rice and brown gravy. It wasn't more than twenty minutes later that Allen and Mana were walking back to the open area just outside of the small town. This was where they went so Mana could try to teach Allen some tricks, though so far he had only managed to get Allen to attempt juggling. The key word there was attempt. The young boy could hardly move his left arm, and because of this he had trouble with juggling. Mana had hoped it might help make it easier for Allen to use his left arm but it only seemed to frustrate the child.

"Do you want to try juggling again?" Mana offered.

Allen didn't respond. He had found one of the decks of cards that Mana used for card tricks whenever he was running out of ideas for shows. The five year old clumsily shuffled the cards; his left arm was balanced on his knee as he sat on the ground and his fingers moved clumsily and slowly. His movements were far from tricky or graceful but he had actually managed to get more than a few small, pointless movements out of his arm.

"Would you like me to teach you a few ways to shuffle the cards?" Mana offered with a happy smile. He was so glad that Allen had finally found something that he seemed to enjoy.

"Yeah," Allen nodded eagerly.

Mana took the cards and began to demonstrate and explain various types of shuffles. He didn't realize that this day would lead to a nearly life long obsession for Allen.

* * *

A/N: I'm SOOOOO Sorry for the crappy chapter and the wait! D: I haven't been able to write much other than my books recently for some reason, but I promise I'm gonna work on my stories more regularly!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man

* * *

Chapter 10

Flashback Chapter 3

Allen looked around at the bustling sidewalk around him. This was the first time since he began traveling with Mana that they had entered a large, heavily populated city. It hadn't taken long for the five year old to get lost, and as he looked around and saw no sign of his father he began to cry. It was truly terrifying to him, the thought that Mana may have purposefully left him alone. Maybe Mana hadn't really cared as much for him as he had thought.

Someone walking by carelessly bumped into Allen, knocking the poor child into a muddy puddle and into the street. He was yanked up by his shirt collar just as a horse drawn coach went by.

"Hey there, little one, are you okay?" the owner of the voice was a kind young woman with soft features and long brown hair.

Allen's lip quivered and he shook his head as his tears began anew. Snot bubbled from his nose as he cried from both fear and anger at the thought of the clown who had abandoned him.

"What's wrong?" the woman asked gently as she used the end of one of her sleeves to dry Allen's face.

"M-Mana left me all alone. Just like everyone else," Allen sniffled as more stinging tears built up in his eyes.

The woman had picked Allen up and carried him to a small restaurant where she sat him down on a chair at one of the outside tables; this way they weren't in the way of any of the crowds. She moved her own chair around the table so that it was next to his. "What happened sweetie?"

"Mana left me behind. He walked away and I couldn't find him in the crowd," Allen sniffed and rubbed at his eyes with the rough, coarse edges of his sleeves. The fabric hurt, and it stung his skin to do so but the tears annoyed him.

"Is Mana your father?" the woman asked sweetly.

Allen nodded as he pulled his knees up to his chest.

"He might not have left you behind on purpose. Maybe I can help you look for him," she offered.

Allen nodded slightly at the offer.

"Okay, what does he look like?" she asked with a sweet smile.

"He's got dark hair," Allen answered, "It's brown, and he's got a mustache. He always wears a top hat or a clown suit."

"Alright, then. Let's go look for him," she offered Allen a hand down from the chair before she picked him up so he could see through the crowd better. That way there would be a better chance of Allen spotting Mana, "Do you see him anywhere, dear?"

"No," Allen sadly shook his head.

"Alright, we'll just have to keep looking! Don't worry, we'll find him," she assured cheerfully. It wasn't long before Allen began wiggling about in her arms and frantically began pointing through the crowd.

"Mana! I see Mana!" he practically squealed in delight at the sight of the clown. His face broke into a large, tearful smile as he ran through the crowd to Mana.

"Allen? Where have you been? I was worried sick about you," Mana crouched down to pick Allen up, "Never run off like that again."

"I didn't run off, you left me behind!" Allen argue, but he had already buried his face against Mana's shoulder and begun crying. He wasn't sure whether they were happy tears or tears about how the situation could have turned out otherwise, but they were tears none the less.

"I'm so glad he found you, Mr. Mana," the young woman had jogged over through the crowd, "You should try to keep better track of him. I found the poor thing about to get hit by a carriage."

"Yes, I'll definitely keep better track of him. Thank you so much for helping him, ma'am," Mana thanked. His voice held a tone of relief. He had been terrified that Allen had run off and that he would never see the child again.

"Come on, Allen, let's go to the inn," Mana smiled as he turned and walked through the crowd, still carrying Allen.

"Thank you miss!" Allen called in a congested-from-crying voice as he waved over Mana's shoulder at the woman.

She waved back and smiled at the two.

* * *

A/N: Yeah, I know, that sucked. Sorry, I was supposed to update yesterday, but I didn't remember until i was about to go to bed.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man

A/N: Okay, so I'm gonna go back a bit more for this chapter. Thanks to endlessnotebooks for the helpful ideas.

* * *

Chapter 11

Flashback Chapter 4

Red didn't look back at the circus twice. He never wanted to think about that circus again, and now, for the first time he could remember, he didn't have to stay there anymore. He looked up at the clown who had rescued him. This was the first time Red had seen Mana without his clown costume and make up, and he personally thought he looked like a very proper, wealthy person.

"Am I walking too fast, Red?" Mana questioned.

"No, sir," Red answered as he began walking faster to keep up.

"If I am, you can always just say so. I wouldn't mind slowing down, or carrying you," Mana smiled back. Red still wasn't used to him without his clown make up on. He wasn't used to people smiling at him.

"Okay, sir," Red responded. He tried to hurry his pace, afraid of being left behind.

"You don't have to call me sir. You can call me whatever you want," Mana chuckled.

Red nodded, at a loss for words. He didn't know what to call Mana. Calling the clown by his real name seemed disrespectful on an unacceptable level to him, but he didn't want to continually call Mana sir if he was told he didn't have to.

"Hm, what are you thinking about, Allen?" Mana questioned, as if the name were completely normal.

"N-Nothing, but that's not my name," Red mumbled and stuffed his deformed hand in his pocket.

"But I think it fits you much better than the name Red. What do you think, Allen?" Mana hummed.

"You can call me whatever you want, I guess," the boy responded, "But what should I call you?"

"Well, you could call me Mana, Dad, I would even be alright if you called me Stupid Clown, for now. Just call me whatever you want to," Mana smiled at him. He would have to try and teach the boy manners at some point, but for now he just wanted Red to get used to being around him.

"Would it really be alright if I called you dad?" Red asked with wide eyes.

"Of course," Mana nodded with a goofy smile that seemed so out of place without his clown outfit.

Red seemed speechless at this. He had never had a figure like that in his life and he was almost giddy at the thought of having someone to look up to. "Dad," he said the word as if testing it, but he continued speaking after a brief pause, "I'm hungry."

"What would you like for dinner then, Allen?" Mana inquired.

"Whatever sounds good to you," Red responded. He could get used to being called Allen, he thought.

* * *

A/N: Oh look, more short, crappy chapters. Thanks so much to endlessnotebooks for giving me this idea. You're amazing. You guys should all go check out her story. Also, please go look at my story Sight. I hate to beg for attention, but I'm getting really discouraged on that story.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't won D. gray-man.

* * *

Chapter 12

Flashback Chapter 5

"Allen, stop running around for a moment," Mana said. He had been shocked at how quickly the boy had become energetic and cheerful like a child his age should have been, but he wasn't going to complain as long as Allen was happy.

"Why?" Allen asked as he obediently returned to stand right in front of Mana.

"Because I have a present for you. Since Christmas was just a few weeks ago I decided to get you a late gift," Mana smiled.

"Really?!" Allen exclaimed as his eyes lit up and his face broke into a wide grin.

"Yes," Mana smiled as he handed Allen the paper-wrapped package. He knew that Allen wouldn't be able to get a regular glove on his bad arm because of it's poor mobility, so he had simply bought a largely oversized mitten.

Allen accepted the package eagerly and struggled awkwardly to tear away the thin paper. His eyes seemed to glow with happiness at the gift, and he had pulled the mitten over his left hand in no time, "Thank you Mana!" He hugged Mana's knee, the highest point on the clown he could reach to hug.

Mana knelt down once Allen had let go, "I'm glad you like it. Merry Christmas, Allen."

"Mana, what's Christmas?" Allen questioned absently as he looked at the mitt in wonder. Now he could avoid people seeing his arm.

"It's a holiday. A lot of people celebrate it religiously, but for people like me it's simply a time for giving gifts to those you care about and being charitable to others," Mana explained.

"Merry Christmas!" Allen smiled back and stood on his tiptoes to hug Mana.

"Hm, speaking of Holidays, do you have a birthday, Allen?" Mana hadn't let the thought cross his mind yet, but he didn't know if Allen know his own birthday.

"No, I no one at the circus ever told me my birthdate," Allen shook his head and frowned a little. He had always felt so left out whenever they would celebrate another performer's birthday but he didn't even know when his was.

"Well, how about we say that your birthday is the day we left the circus?" Mana offered.

Allen nodded.

"Then your birthday is on Christmas, Allen. Happy late birthday," Mana smiled and ruffled Allen's red hair.

Allen suddenly smiled, but simultaneously burst into tears. He was so happy, no one had ever been this nice to him, "Thank you."

Mana couldn't help but smile as he picked Allen up and hugged him close.

* * *

A/N: Aw, ain't that just a fluff fest. Sorry it's short but I was out of ideas for this chapter.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man

* * *

Chapter 13

Flashback Chapter 6

"Hey Mana?" Allen's tone was side-tracked, probably by the fact that he seemed so focused on kicking the same rock every time he stepped.

"Yes?" Mana responded. He himself seemed rather unfocused, but this was nothing new for the clown.

"Do you have a family? You're always being so nice to me, I was just wondering where you learned to be so nice," Allen asked. He finally turned his attention from the stone he kicked.

"I used to," Mana smiled. The smile hid the sudden sadness the question brought up, "When I was your age I was very sick, so I couldn't be with my brother as much as I wish I could have. Though he always liked to stay inside and read to me when I wasn't well enough to go outside with him. When I finally recovered, him, my mother, and I were always outside playing together."

"What happened to them?" Allen asked curiously. He was rather oblivious to the pain he was causing the clown.

"My brother did some unforgivable things, it ended up angering one of his dear friends, and his friend killed our mother and then him. I was lucky enough to be protected, so I'm far from ungrateful," Mana answered.

"Oh," Allen responded sadly. He hadn't meant to bring up something so bad.

"Don't worry, Allen. I promise that it's nothing that upsets me too much anymore," Mana assured.

"Really?" Allen would have hated it if he had made Mana sad. He always depended on the clown, he couldn't bear the thought of saddening the kind man.

"Yes. Just remember it's rude to ask questions about peoples' pasts. Try not to ask people things like that," Mana always found a way to turn mistakes into lessons it seemed.

"I will," Allen assured with a determined nod. He always tried to take Mana's lessons to heart. From the simple lessons about table manners to more tricky matters like the one that had just been discussed.

"The next town we're going to has a very nice sweets shop, maybe we could stop there for a bit of a treat. What do you think about that, Allen?" Mana questioned. He figured changing the subject would lighten the mood of the conversation.

"That sounds great!" Allen exclaimed happily. One of his biggest weaknesses was his sweet tooth. He loved all types of sweet food, from cakes and pastries to candies, he even liked candied vegetables if they were cooked in sugar glazes long enough.

"I'm glad you like the idea," Mana smiled, "Though we might not get to town until tomorrow, so you'll have to wait awhile."

"Oh well, at least there'll still be sweets!" Allen cheered.

Mana laughed at Allen's sudden wave of energy, "Yes, there still will be."

As they continued walking Allen just continued babbling about completely careless, irrelevant things. It was nice when things were this care free.

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A/N: Oh look, what a rare thing! A chapter of actual quality! Thanks for reading :D


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man

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Chapter 14

Regular Chapter 7

Allen, miraculously, had managed to find a very welcome two hours of silence. This had become a very rare occurrence ever since he and Mana had begun living with Road's family. It had been two months, and Mana had decided that it was rather nice living in the town. They performed out in the town rather often, so Mana felt they weren't being too impolite by staying.

Allen flinched when the door to the library was flung open and a certain, petite girl flung herself at him in a tackle hug.

"Hey there, Road," Allen greeted.

"Allen~ Where have you been?! I've been looking all over for you since I got back this morning!" Road cried and squeezed his neck harder than was strictly necessary.

"I've just been reading in here all morning, Road. I guess you weren't looking hard enough," Allen tried to keep his attention on his book.

"You're no fun! Why don't you come play dress up with me, Allen~" Road begged.

"Sorry, Road, I can't. Mana wants me to start going to school, and I need to get caught up on everything you guys have been learning," Allen apologized. Honestly he had already done all he needed to to prepare for school, but it still stood as a good excuse to avoid Road.

"That's so boring! I can help you study, if you want," Road offered.

"No, sorry, but I think I've got it," Allen assured, "Maybe I'll play with you tomorrow."

"Really?!" Road's eyes lit up.

"Maybe, not for sure," Allen reminded. The last thing he wanted was for her to hold him to that as a promise.

"That's not fair! You got my hopes up for nothing!" Road pouted.

"No, I didn't. I might play with you tomorrow, but I might be going out to perform tomorrow. I don't know if I'll be here at all tomorrow, I'm gonna be pretty busy," Allen responded simply. He hated when Road acted like this; she was always so childish.

"Really? Normally you aren't out past dark, though. Why will it be any different tomorrow?" Road asked.

"Because Mana doesn't want me having to focus on school and performing, so tomorrow is my last day to go out and perform until I get a break from school. I just want to get as much time in as I can," Allen explained, "It'll be weird, not constantly going out to earn money."

"Then why don't you tell Mana that you would rather keep working as a clown?" Road asked.

"Because even though he grew up in a fairly wealthy family, he was too sick to go to school. He doesn't want me to not get to go to school, so I'm not going to argue with him," Allen answered, "I think he just doesn't want me to be stuck as a street performer for the rest of my life."

"Really? He seems like such an educated man though. Are you sure he never got an education?" Road asked.

"Well, his mother taught him to read and write, and some basic math, but that was all he ever really learned," Allen said.

"That's kind of sad. So, you said he could never go to school because he was sick, what was wrong with him?" Road inquired.

"No one really knows, but he would be unconscious and bedridden for long periods of time when he was younger. So many people thought he was going to die, but his mother and brother never really gave up. I guess it paid off, though, because he was the only one in his family who lives much longer after the time he had recovered completely," Allen answered as best as he could.

"Do you know what happened to the rest of his family?" Road hummed.

"No, he doesn't like to talk about it so I normally don't ask him about it very much," Allen shook his head, "And I don't want you asking him about it, either."

"I'm not that insensitive. Daddy says it's impolite to ask people about their past," Road said.

"Okay, just making sure. He can become a bit unresponsive when Uncle Neah is mention," Allen said.

"Neah?" Road questioned. She knew that name, but she doubted it belonged to the same person as she was thinking of.

"Yeah, he was Mana's brother. The two of them were always really close, but around thirty-five years ago he died, though Mana never really says how it happened," Allen explained.

Road's eyes widened. So, they really were talking about the same Neah. She remembered now, Neah's sub-human brother. _The others don't have to know about this, though. Mana is harmless now._

"Maybe the day after tomorrow we can have a tea party, Allen~ What do you think?" Road hummed.

"I guess, since I won't really have anything to do," Allen agreed. He knew he needed to get used to this sooner or later.

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A/N: Okay, I just want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE ATTENTION YOU GAVE THIS STORY! Sadly, I'm out of ideas and inspiration, and I feel I should end this story before I start making it really sad and stuff. You're free to think of an ending however you would like, but I imagine things would be fine after this, to a point. Again, thank you so much for reading you all were great!


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